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Best advice from a star board member
Mellody Hobson has a slate of corporate board seats that many a star executive would envy: She is a director at Starbucks (SBUX), Estee Lauder (EL), Groupon (GRPN) and DreamWorks Animation (DWA). And while her day job is serving as president of Chicago-based Ariel Investments, Hobson is also non-executive chairman of DreamWorks—as well as one of CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg's most trusted advisors. How did Hobson get such plum corporate gigs? For one thing, the 44-year-old executive knows what she's good at—and not. "We say at Ariel, 'What is your towering strength?" Hobson said in an interview with Katzenberg for Fortune's "Best Advice I Ever Got" package. She and DreamWorks' chief agree that her towering strength is simplifying complicated information and explaining it well. Genius, said Einstein, is taking the complex and making it simple. Hobson is no genius--just a smart executive who focuses well to guide bigwigs. "Don't major in the minor," she says. Katzenberg says this is his favorite advice from her. Hobson also subscribes to the investment philosophy of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger (also featured in the "Best Advice" package) who hunt for haystacks—clear, explicable, durable winners like Coca-Cola (KO)—rather than obscure needle-like plays. Vetting investment opportunities for the companies whose boards she sits on, Hobson keeps in mind: "If it grows like a week, it is a weed." The challenge for any company, she explains, is: "How do you get in the oak business?" Long-term thinking has paid off for Hobson, career-wise. "When I walked in the door at Ariel at 22," says the '91 Princeton grad, "I thought, 'I'm going to walk through this door thousands of times.' I've worked at one place for 22 years. I'm the only person from my graduating class at Princeton who still has the same work number." Filed under: Postcards | About This Author  Patricia Sellers Editor at Large, Fortune Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), "MySpace Cowboys," Martha Stewart ("I cannot be destroyed"), Ted Turner ("Gone with the Wind") and Oprah Winfrey ("Oprah Inc."). Since its launch in 1998, Pattie has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women" cover package. Subscribe: RSS feed | email newsletter  Sign up News Breaking Financial News Be the first to know when there is breaking financial news with timely alerts delivered straight to your inbox. Markets Captain's Blog FORTUNE managing editor Andy Serwer keeps tabs on Wall Street. Market Briefing A complete roundup of each day's trading activity. The Term Sheet Receive Fortune's newsletter on all the deals that matter, from Wall Street to Sand Hill Road. Technology Careers Personal Finance The Help Desk Tips for saving and spending smarter. Ask the Expert Our readers toughest market questions answered every Friday.  | ||
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Postcards: Best advice from a star board member
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